Reichert



June 13, 1961 REICHERT 2,988,269

W. METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TIME CONTROL, PARTICULARLY WORK TIME CONTROL Filed Sept. 20, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 13, 1961 w REICHERT 2 ,269

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METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TIME CONTROL, PARTICULARLY WORK TIME CONTROL Filed Sept. 20, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 xikjmflfi SVWIXYZ/ 2,988,269 Patented June 13, 1961 2,988,269 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TIME CONTROL, PARTICULARLY WORK TIME CONTROL Willi Reichert, Petrisberg, Trier, Germany Patentanwalt Adolf O. Berglein, Bayerstr. 35-37, Munich,

Germany) Filed Sept. 20, 1957, Ser. No. 685,347 9 Claims. (Cl. 23416) The present invention relates to a method and device for time control, particularly work time control by means of a check clock, a control card, control plate or the like.

Up to now the exact Working time of employees in enterprises is controlled in such a way that the employee takes a card made out to his name from a special board when he enters the premises, pushes the said card into a check clock and prints the date and the exact work time begin onto the said card by pressing a lever or turning a crank whereafter he puts the card in a second special board. This procedure is repeated when the employee leaves the premises in the inverted sequence, i.e. the employee takes the card from the second special board, prints it in the check clock and puts it in the first special board. These proceedings cause, especially at the beginning and at the end of the work period, undesirable bottlenecks at these special boards for the check cards and at the check clocks. It is also possible that cards are confounded. By the necessity to compute the working hours and the corresponding wages a great expenditure of time and personnel for special forces is necessary in the computation otfices, whereby by mistakes of the staff employed for this purpose further losses of time and money, or other difiiculties arise. Becauseof the troublesome work-of computing the results of the check cards, this work can be done only at longer intervals, butfor purposes of control or statistic, which would be desirable, this work cannot be' done daily. There is no security against abusive entering of the premises by persons, who are not entitled to come into the works, so that there is a possibility of spying in the works. Furthermore mistakes may be caused by unclear printings.

The object of the invention is to eliminate these disadvantages and critical conditions by providing a control method for time, work time and other processes which considerably diminishes, the expenditure of time and cost for such controls and which has, besides, numerous further advantages in the control procedure itself and which makes it possible to extend and to improve considerably the use of these controls.

This purpose is reached by a method of the kind stated hereinbefore at the beginning and/or at the end of each control period or control process for every person and every process to be controlled, a foil, card or plate, pertaining to the said person or process, bearing punched symbols, are sensed by putting them in a sensing device. These symbols are transferred together with other punched symbol combinations added by a clock and/ or by other mechanisms operated by hand or automatically by a mechanically and/ or electrically controlled symbol punching device on a punched strip fed forward in steps, or on punched single cards or single punched tapes which are brought one after the other in the punching station, so that corrmponding punched holes or marks appear on the said tapes or cards. For the punched symbol tape or punched symbol card registration of the beginning of the control process and/ or partial periods of it, punched tapes or punched cards of difiierent colour or with other distinguishing marks are used. As control foils, cards or plates to be sensed and provided with other indications, values, information or the like personal control cards with stamped photograph and other personal indications and a part reserved for punched symbol combinations are used. For the supervising of the sensing of the identification control cards when they are put in the sensing device and when this latter is operated, special control and alarm devices are provided, which block the sensing of the identification card if this latter is not put in properly or which operate an optic or acoustic signal when a counterfeited wrongly marked or wrongly shaped identification card is pushed in or if the same identification card is put in several times, and/or which cause a corresponding marking on the registering punched tapes. As sensing device for the foil-, cardor plate-shaped control identification cards a work time check apparatus with an insertion slot for the control identification card and with a sensing device for the punched symbol combinations is used together with the control devices operated by hand, by time pieces, step-by-step systems or the like and with electrical transfer devices to a registering punched tape or punched card attachment. The device for putting the method into practice including essentially one or several sensing devices with insertion slots for the foil-, cardor plate-like control identification cards, additional transmitting and controlling devices used for producing additional symbol combination values and operated by hand or by one or several clock works respectively impulse generators or by other step-by-step operating driving or control devices and a common electric contact control device transferring all symbol combination values to a registering device for punching symbol combinations in punched tapes or cards, the mechanic punching means of which are controlled by said electric contact control device. The additional switching and control devices cooperate with the sensing apparatus for the control identification card for simultaneous transferring and registering effect.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which an embodiment of a device for execution of the method according to the invention have been shown by way of example. However I wish to say that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appending claims. In the drawings, in which like parts are referred to by the same reference numerals:

FIGS. 1a and 1b show an embodiment of a working time control device with the essential parts of the device in perspective and exploded view respectively and the electric connection lines for the electrically operated parts,

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the plateshaped control identification card in front and rear view,

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the locking member for the insertion slot for the control identification card in side elevation and in elevation from the inserting side, and

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment for a punched symbol arrangement with five-line code and 25 columns for the registering in a punched tape or punched cards for the control process.

Referring particularly to FIG. 111 there is shown the sensing device 1 for the personal-identification card 2 with its part 3 for the personnel-data and its part 4 for the punched symbol combinations, which is inserted at the beginning of the work time and at the end of it into the insertion slot 9 after the porter or another competent person has pressed the In/Out knobs 5 and 6 provided on the sensing device or at another location for the operation of the contacts 7 and 8 of the sensing device and for putting into operation the complete apof the operation.

paratus in order to be sensed by sensing pins and the contacts 11 controlled by the said sensing pins in respect of its part 4 for the punched symbol combinations, so that these-are transferredto anelectric contact control device withfive commutators 12-16. The commutators 12 to 16 have contact parts 18-22 rigidly fixed on a common shaft 17 and rotating with this latter. Each of these contact parts 18-22 glide over one of the stationary circular rings 23-27 with 25 contacts on each ring, which contacts belong to the five hole rows a-z, and the same time over one of the current feed rings 28-32 in an anticlockwise direction, when their common shaft 17 is driven through teeth wheels 33, 34, shaft 35, electrically operated clutch 36, worm wheel 37 and worm 38 by the shaft 39 of an electric motor 40. On the shaft there is arranged simultaneously an excenter 41 which acts on the movable support 42 of a common pressure rail 43 for five punches 44 to 48 of a punching device. By the punches 44 to 48 the transferred symbol combinations are punched into a punched tape 49 over the pressure rail 43 against a spring bias, as far as between the pressure rail 43 and the single punches 44-48 transfer bars or rails 50-54 shiftable in longitudinal direction are moved in the position necessary for the movement transfer by means of the appertaining electromagnets -59 with the coupling bars 64 against the bias of their return springs 65. The control of the electromagnets 55-59 takes place through the contacts of the stationary contact rings 23-27. The electric motor 40 is connected with a power source when the apparatus is switched in, and the coupling 36 is likewise connected with this power source at the beginning of the sensing of the personal identification card 2 and is operated for the duration of the registering of the control results. The motor 40 continues to run, the coupling 36 is switched on by every insertion of a control identification card 2 and switched off at the end On the shaft 17 there is besides a cam contact control wheel 66 for a contact 67. Contact disc sets 71, 72, 73 with ten contact discs in each set and appertaining contacts 74, 75, 76, driven e.g. in a -step-by-step movement from a control clock work 70,

a greater contact disc or a program disc 77 for time indications for a longer period, with a smaller contact disc or program disc 78 for indications such as normal, respectively belated, begin of the work, overtime, etc. are, according to FIG. 1b inelectrically conducting connection with the appertaining contacts a-z of the com- .mutators 12-16 at the stationary contact rings 23-27.

This electric connection is made by electric conductors in the distributor cables 68/69.

Of the contacts arranged on each stationary contact ring 23-27 or thecommutators 12-16, insulated from each other, appertaining to the twenty-five five-hole rows [1-1 in the punched strip 49, the contacts are connected with the switches 5 and 6 for n and Out, the contacts b,.c, cl with the big program disc 77 and the small program disc 73, the contacts e-q with the contacts 11 of the sensing device 1 and the contacts r-z with the contact sets 74, 75, 76 of the contact disc sets 71, 72, 73 driven by the controlclockwork 70. The contact disc sets 71, 72, 73 transfer to the contacts r-z of the contact rings 23-27 .the exact-time with two digits for the hours and two digits for the minutes as well as the corresponding time of presence between the beginning and the end of the Work time for the person to which the personalidentification card belongs.

The twenty-five contacts on the stationary contact rings 23-27 appertaining to the 25 five-hole rows a-z transfer the indications from the sensing device 1, the n and Out knobs 5 and 6, the contact disc sets 71, 72,

73 and the program discs 77, 78 according to their position,'to the electromagnets 55-59 for the control and for the shifting of the appertaining coupling rods 60-64 in their effective transfer :position between the pressure rail 43 and the punches 44-48, when the rotating contact arms 18-22 driven by the electric motor 40 glide over them. The punches 44-48 controlled in this way punch in the 25 five-hole rows a-z the symbols corresponding to the indications to be registered into the punched tape 49. Betweenthe single recordings with twenty-five hole columns by inserting a personal identification card 2 into the slot 9 of the sensing device 1, empty spaces are left or other marks are applied, which may also contain transverse perforations, so that the single parts of the tape 49 can be separated from each other for the different registering processes and can be used each one for itself. Instead of the punched tape 49 which is moved step-by-step below the punches 44-48 by means of transport perforations 83 and transport wheels, and which tape is preferably of different colour for the In and Out'registration or which bears other distinguishing marks for these registrations, it is also possible to feed punched cards one after the other Within the range of the punches 44-48, which are moved below thes-aid punches 44-48 in a step by-step movement as long as the registering process is performed. The single hole rows of the tWenty-five-hole code columns a-z are used in the present embodiment for the following values and indications: The row a is for the indication n and Out, the rows -b, c for the day of a month, 1 to 31, the row d for irregular, normal Work time, and overtime, the rows 2, f, g, h for the personnel number, the rows i,-k, l for the Wages center, the rows m, n, 0, q for other indications which are desired to be punched, the rows r, s for the hours, the rows t, u for 5/100 hours, the rows v, w for the hours of the counting time, the rows x, y for the 5/100 hours of the counting time and the row z for the file marks of the punched cards.

The personal identification card 2 used as a control member according to FIGS. 2-5 has besides the transparent personal data-part 3 with slot for the insertion of a personal-data sheet on one side and a photograph on the back, the hole punch part 4 with the twelve fiverow columns, at its lower part a control recess '79 arranged on one sideof the longitudinal center line. After insertion of'the personal-data sheet 2 with'the photograph of the person on the-back in the slot of the personal data part 3 of the plate-like control member 2 its slot is closed by a control rail 80 with oblique insertion tongue 81 with knob-like pants 82 projecting on one side. The closing of the 'slot of the personal-data part 3 is efiected by liquid-proof gluing. The recess 79 on the lower rim of the identification card 2 and the projections 82 on the one side of the closing rail 80 90 for the insertion slot of the personal-data part 3 are intended to prevent that the control plate 2 is pushedin the wrong way or that a counterfeitedcontrol card 2 can be pushed in. Only when the correct control plate 2 has the correct :lower recess 79, can it influence a contact 89 in its lowest position of the insentionin the slot 9, which causes the sensing and puts into operation the complete apparatus.

In connection with the inserting slot 9 in the sensing device 1 and alarm or control device controlled by contacts influenced ,by the personal identification card 2 can be provided, which when a false control card 2 is in serted releases an acoustic signal or causes that another mark or warning is made. At the same time the sensing is blocked when a control card 2 is put in wrongly or when a wrong control card 2 is put in. Furthermore it is possible to recognize the double insertion of the same control card 2 by the means cited hereinbefore. In plants with a great number of workmen several apparatuses with sensing devices 1, insertion slots 9, commutators 12-16 and appertaining punching devices, trans- 12-16, the punching. devices as well as the transmitting and control devices driven by the control clock work 70 only one common control clock work is necessary.

As the control clock work 70, an electrically driven clock with step-by-step movement can be used which drives through corresponding trains of gears the contact disc sets 71, 72, 73 as well as the program discs 77, 78. The big program disc 77 may e.g. execute one revolution per month and indicate by its contacts 84 the different days. The making of contact corresponding to the difierent months can take place by shiftable contact pieces 85 on the big contactor program-disc 77 and the contact pieces 86 of the small contactor programdisc 78. The contacts 84 of the big program disc 77 are scanned by the contact lever 87, the contacts 86 of the small program-disc 78 by the contact lever 88. It is possible to arrange in the punched card part 4 indications about the hourly wages, tax group, deductions, and the like in form of punched symbol combinations, so that by sensing the punched tape 49 or in its place punched cards or punched cards duplicated from the tape it is possible to establish at any time and quickly the gross and the net wages without human activity. The transport perforations 83 of the punched tape 49 or in punched cards can be made by the punching device after the twenty-five five-row punchings. The twenty-fifth fiverow column can be used for the filing of the cards or for the operation by the punched tape 49.

The operation of the device for the working time control is as follows:

At the beginning of the work time the workman inserts his work time control card 2 in the slot 9 of the sensing device 1, closes thereby the contact 89 for the release of the sensing device and the switching in of the complete apparatus, after the porter or another competent person has pressed the switch button 5 for In. Thereby the sensing device for the five-hole rows e-q together with the supplementary transmitting devices for the five hole rows a-d and r-z as well as the drive motor '40 for the commutators 12-16 are put into operation and after the reaction of the coupling 36 the punching device 41-48 operates likewise, the coupling bars 50-54 of which are controlled through the electromagnets 55-59 by the contacts a to z of the commutators 12-16. The common shaft 17 of the commutators 12-16 is put into rotation in an anticlockwise direction by the shaft 35 through the gear wheels 33, 34. During the passing of one of the contacts a-z of the commutators 12-16 to the next contact the interrupter assembly 66, 67 interrupts the negative conductor of the control magnets 55-59. After the punching of the holes in the first five-hole column a for In the further holes are punched. The rotating contact organs 18-22 of the commutators 12-16 switch step-by-step to the further contacts b, c, d influenced by the programor contactdiscs 77, 78, thereafter to the contacts in the five-hole columns e-q sensed by the sensing device 1 and finally to the contacts r-z influenced by the transmitting and control devices 7 8-78. By the control of the electromagnets 55- 59 the corresponding holes are punched in the punched tape 49 through the punches 44-48 up to the twenty-fifth five-hole column z. The last punched symbol combinations column z can be used for the file sorting of the registered recording or for the file sorting of the punched card and for causing the feed of a new punched card. After the punching of this last five-hole column z the contact 89 closed by the control card 2 is interrupted, so that the clutch 36 is released, and the commutators 12- 16 come to a standstill in their initial position at the contact a. The motor can continue to run and then be switched off by thermo contacts, time switches or the like, if no registration is made for a certain time (2-4 minutes), or by the porter. The control card 2 is locked during the sensing process with the transfer of the sensed information up to the five-hole column q in the sensing device and can be taken out of the insertion slot 9 of the sensing device 1 only after the five-hole column q has been punched in the punched tape 49. The punching of the five-hole columns r-z in the punched tape 49 is done automatically and independent of the control card 2 up to the five-hole column z. As the commutator shaft 17 and the eccentric shaft 35 of the punching device rotate in synchronism if the clutch 36 is engaged, wrong indications are impossible. The programor contact-discs 77 78 are likewise provided with five-hole code contact devices, so that the indications appear in five-hole code symbols in the punched tape 49 or in the punched cards and can be used to compile any desired information, e.g. the fully automatically tabulated pay rolls. The five-hole columns in the control card 2 and in the punched tape 49 can be decreased or increased in number at will in the same way as the other supplementary five-hole columns for recording or controlling very different facts. It is possible to use also other code columns, as e.g. 7 -code or hold columns. In the embodiment the transmission ratio between the commutators 12-16 and the punching units 41-49 is 1:25.

The embodiment illustrated and described hereinbefore can undergo in its details numerous modifications, so that it can be used also for other control purposes of time or processes. The control cards are then used not as personal control-cards but as foil, card or plate control identifications for any processes, work orders, performances, operation time registration and counting of machines, apparatuses, plants, etc. The recordings punched into the control card can be sensed and can be registered together with other pertinent indications, numbers or the like on punched tapes or in sequence on punched cards brought to the punching device one after the other. These cards or tapes can then be used at any time to operate counting machines, adding machines, tabulating machines or the like which operate with the necessary sensing devices and very rapidly, without there being the necessity of particular mental effort and without the possibility of mistakes being made by the staff charged with the computations. Instead of the punching by single columns it is also possible to use punching devices which execute the complete punchings of one registering process or the complete punchings of the scanning device 1 not by columns but in one single stroke.

I claim:

1. An electro-mechanical registering device for producing a perforate record which contains information given on a separate perforated control member and additional information supplied by a separate information device, comprising in combination at least one sensing device having an insertion slot for said control member and straight lined movable sensing organs for the whole range of all punched symbol combinations on said control member, said sensing device being actuated after said control member has been inserted in said slot and is in stationary position, additional transmitting and control devices, a stepwise operating driving device for automatically actuating said transmitting and control devices and for automatically producing additional values to be impressed on said perforate record, an electrical contact control device, said sensing device and said transmitting and control devices being separately connected to said electrical contact control device for transferring and recording all values for registering purposes, a common registering punch device controlled by said electric contact control device which is adapted to punch rows of punched symbol combinations into a continuously fed tape so that the information on the control member as well as the information fed through the additional transmitting and control devices is recorded thereon.

2. A device as per claim 1, in which said registering punching device includes commonly actuated punching organs for one row of punched symbol combinations, electrically controlled and spring-loaded movement transferring members for the single punching organs and a device for moving said registering organ step-by-step below said punching organs during each registering operation.

3. A device as per claim 1, in Which-at the sensing device, for the control member a number of straight-lined organs corresponding to;the number of punched symbol combinations'permitted to be punched in said control member are provided which can be brought in connection row-by-row and in sequence with said electric contact control device for the registering device through electric transfer means.

4. A device as per claim 1, in which at said sensing device electric switching means are provided which cause simultaneously with the inserting of the control member the actuation of the registering device.

5. A device as per claim 1, in which said additional transmitting and control devices include a plurality of contact disc sets each contact disc'having inoperative and operative contacts, the number of contact discs in each set corresponding to the number of punched holes in the uniform hole row of the control member respectively corresponding to the decimal system.

6. A device as per claim 1, in which said additional transmitting and control devices continually actuated by said step-wise operated driving device include a plurality of contact disc sets each contact'disc having inoperative and operative contacts, the number of contact discs for registering the hours and the minutes of the clock time cor-responding to the number of digits of the respective values used for hours and minutes.

7. A device as per claim 1, in which said additional transmitting and control devices continually actuated by said step-Wise operated driving device include contact disc sets each contact disc havinginoperative and operative contacts, the number of contact discs for each symbol hole row corresponding to the number of punched holes in the uniform hole rowof the control member respectively correspondingto-the decimal system, and at least one additional larger contact disc having control contact means divided over its circumference corresponding to values respectivelyto control information for a longer period.

8. A device as per claim 1, in which each of said control members consists-of a plate-like personal control member having personal information and a part for punched symbol combinations in hole rows for any desired values to be evaluated.

9. 'A device as per claim 1, in which each of said control members consists of a plate-like personal control member having personal information of the person to be controlled and a part for punched symbol combinations in hole rows for any desired information to be evaluated, and additional markings at its edges and at spots cooperating with. corresponding control and contact means in the sensing device when the control member is inserted into the slot of the sensing device to activate a signalling device which announces any illegal use of the sensing device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 636,246 English ;Nov. 7, 1899 2,338,180 Harrison Jan. 4, 1944 2,344,497 Cooney Mar. 21, 1944 2,484,114 Page et a1 Oct. 11, 1949 2,545,460 Hall Mar. 20, 1951 2,633,401 Mitchell Mar. 31, 1953 

